Young Defenders
by alienyouthct
Summary: "Nice rack, Xander." "…because getting compliments on tits I shouldn't even have isn't weird at all. Thanks, Kennedy."
1. Chapter 1

Title: _Young Defenders_  
><span>Author:<span> JoeHundredaire  
><span>Rating:<span> PG-13/FR15  
><span>Disclaimer:<span> Right, I actually went and checked to be sure this time… _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, _Angel: the Series_, and all associated characters belong to Fran and Kaz Kuzui. With a myriad of writers, artists, and editors, actual rights are a nightmare when you go near a comic book universe. Suffice it to say that Marvel Entertainment LLC owns all of the property printed in their comics, along with the television and movie adaptations of said same property. Not mine, don't sue, and so forth and so on.  
><span>Summary:<span> "Nice rack, Xander." "…because getting compliments on tits I shouldn't even have isn't weird at all. Thanks, Kennedy."  
><span>Joe's Note:<span> After one of my Fic-a-Day story posts, I got an email from dogbertcarroll. I'll condense it down to the salient point in the interest of getting to what you all came for:

_The basic idea is that Xander gets wounded post Sunnydale and (thanks to the chaos that still clings to him) healing him with magic is a bit complicated. Willow figured out it's easier to change him thanks to the chaos and turns him into a a slayer he can easily heal wounds that will kill a normal human, and had an impressive rack. Which leads to a bit of drooling on Willow's part and some jealousy on Kennedy's. Willow tries to change him back once he's healed but can't get it to work right._

He wanted me to take it from there into the DC universe but that's really not my wheelhouse and my Lexipedia was too busy settling in back at home and catching up on her day job to hold my hand through even a one-shot. So I decided to keep the vague outline and the superhero theme, but spin it back in a direction I was more comfortable with…

* * *

><p>"I'm a girl."<p>

"It was the only-"

"You turned me into a girl."

"I had to! Otherwise, you wou-"

"I hate to break it to you, Willow, but you're not the Californian Goddess of Death! You didn't 'have' to do anything! You chose to! Just like I chose to step in front of that sword for Faith! I chose to sacrifice myself so that she could make the killing blow! I didn't have to. I could have let her die. One of the other Slayers would have killed the demon in her place. Might have had to sacrifice another Slayer on top of Faith to set things up the same way. We'll never know, because I made a choice. Because I realized I was getting slow. Tired. Old, at least in this game. I wanted to make my death mean something; to go out the same way I've lived the last decade and a half: fighting the good fight. But then you decided that my choices didn't mean anything to you, and so you reached in and took my free will away from me. And…" Reaching up, Xander Harris grabbed at his throat before whirling around to glare at the woman standing in the bathroom doorway behind him. "And it's bad enough that I'm half my age and the wrong gender, but did you have to turn me into Merida?"

Willow Rosenberg scowled, bringing a hand up to poke at Xander's far too squishy chest. "Don't take that tone of voice with me, buster. If you hadn't gotten your body so polluted with chaos magic over the years, I would have been able to heal you just fine without resorting to something like this. So if you think about it, it's actually your fault that you're like this."

Eyes widening, Xander reached up and batted Willow's hand away, suppressing the urge to apologize when he heard something in the redhead's forearm crack. The pain was as temporary as the injury itself, he consoled himself; Willow would inevitably fix it with magic, just like she 'fixed' anything else she perceived to be wrong with the world around her. "No, me being dead because of the choice I made would be my fault. I didn't ask you to try healing me, much less… this. So this is all completely your fault and I'm not going to let you duck responsibility. Speaking of ducking, though, I'm still waiting for an answer. Why… am… I… Merida?"

After an attempt at Resolve Face didn't sway Xander in the slightest, Willow smiled nervously as she cradled her injured arm against her chest. "Well, um, the accent is the easiest to explain." She paused, gathering her thoughts, and Xander narrowed his eyes before gesturing for her to continue. "When you were unconscious in the infirmary, I transformed you into a girl and then turned you into a Slayer so you'd have their healing. I started trying to turn you back once your body didn't, you know, have a giant hole poked in it anymore. But I couldn't. Ungirl you, I mean. So I had them keep you under for a bit longer so that I could collect some memories and copy them into your head. I mean, I think we can both agree that it would be awkward weird not-fun if one of us had to teach you how to put a bra on or how to sit properly in a skirt or what to do when your period comes aro-"

Groaning, Xander slapped his hand over Willow's mouth, cutting off her babbling. "Twenty words or less." Although while it didn't explain the accent, it did explain why he was having a hard time staying angry about his current situation no matter how hard he tried. Willow had already reprogrammed him to be fine with his girlhood by way of a pile of memories that would make it seem natural and comfortable. Awesome. Because nothing say friendship like a nice thorough mind fucking.

The answer came not from Willow, who stood there pouting at him petulantly, but instead from the shorter Latina who had arrived at some point and was now peeking over the redhead's shoulder at him. "Willow scooped too much out of Orla's head to shove into your brain, and now you're Scottish." Charisse Kennedy paused, using her fingers to count how many words she'd used so far, before tossing out a few more. "Nice rack, Xander."

"…because getting compliments on tits I shouldn't even have isn't weird at all. Thanks, Kennedy." Xander blew a raspberry at the utterly unapologetic Slayer before turning back around so he could study his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Reaching up, he ran his fingers through his long, wild, orangish-red locks several times before ruffling it and letting out a groan. "Okay, fine, I'll accept that the accent is a side effect of a necessary evil, AKA the girl memory stuffage thing. I can always hire someone to help me mellow it out. But what about the rest of me? Was the whole body Merida makeover really necessary? Especially this hair?"

Willow shrugged helplessly. "It was supposed to be temporary, remember? We were watching _Brave_ the night before and Kennedy kept making jokes about giving me a makeover for some dirty Disney princess bedroom fun so Merida was bouncing around in my head and you know how magic is and… and…" Trailing off, she took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts before continuing. "And you're not really Merida. More like Merida Plus. You're older and a bit taller and prettier and improved in, uh, other ways."

Yes, Xander had noticed that. The moment he sat up in the infirmary, as a matter of fact. After all, it was hard to miss that much weight shifting on his chest, especially when there wasn't supposed to be any at all. Or how much wider his hips were, or that sitting down still felt weird because his ass seemed to arrive at its destination unexpectedly early. But rather than launch into a discussion of the choices Willow had made and how skeezy it made him feel that she'd essentially designed a jailbait sexpot body for him, Xander kept his attention firmly fixed on his hair. "And you couldn't have improved me with some straight hair? Preferably shorter straight hair? I mean, do you know how much shampoo and conditioner I'm going to go through taking care of this mane? How long it'll take me to get ready in the morning? And…" Trailing off, he frowned. Being one of the more recent additions to the platoon of Slayers he oversaw, he obviously knew the girl Willow had mentioned but not all that well. "Does Orla have a secret girly side that she's never shown me, or is being turned into a girl bringing out my inner metrosexual?"

Squeezing past Willow and entering the bathroom, Kennedy reached up and began playing with Xander's hair. "There's always door number 'C'." Xander raised an eyebrow at that. "You're awfully into Spike's soap operas, cook pretty damn well for a guy, are responsible for the majority of the castle's interior design, and I've heard you offering fashion advice to your Slayers. 'Metro' isn't the prefix I'm thinking belongs on your something-sexual." Frowning, she grabbed a hair tie out of a basket on a nearby shelf and pulled Xander's hair into a ponytail, tying it back before reaching up to prod at the sides of his head. "Hmm. We definitely need to trim the ends down to a single length… but what do you think about an undercut? Maybe even shaving both sides down? It'd take a lot of the weight off your head and cut down on maintenance…"

"First of all, not gay here. That's you and Willow and Satsu's schtick. The Xan-Man loves the ladies… which means the Xan-Girl loving the ladies makes me a lesbian, doesn't it? Huh. I'll be damned. Second of all…" Xander did his best to visualize what she was proposing, drawing on mental images of some of the Slayers currently roaming the castle who also sported the style in question. "Could work. Especially since my inner Orla screams whenever I think of pulling a Sinéad O'Connor. Because while she's not too girly, she's girly enough to be offended by that idea. Thanks again for that, Willow." Turning his head as best he could with Kennedy's hands in the way, Xander eyed the various cosmetics stacked on the shelves to his right, making note of what he did and didn't recognize, much less know how to use. "So I'm stuck like this, Willow? You're sure?"

"Pretty positive, yeah."

"And I'm guessing that bad things would happen if you tried whatever the first spell was while daydreaming about… hell, I'll take Rapunzel over Merida if you can't get your mind off Disney's girls. Or that ice queen chick from the new movie coming out this fall. I'm actually kinda liking that idea better, now that I think about it, because not only would Rapunzel's hair be an even bigger nightmare for me, but it's magic hair and so-"

"Um, since the spell was pretty much just me having a little chat with Hecate about turning a son into a daughter? I don't think it'd end well, no."

Slumping, Xander stared at the alien reflection in the mirror for a few seconds before perking back up. Just because Willow couldn't fix the biggest problem didn't mean she couldn't fix the smaller ones. "What about doing an aging spell? Preferably old enough to drink, but I'll take voting age if that's all you can manage?"

"You know how badly most Slayers seem to age. Do you want to risk it?"

Xander cringed as he met Kennedy's eyes in the mirror. She, Satsu, and Faith were the exceptions rather than the rule when it came to the first generation Slayers. Various forms of self-destructive behavior were the norm among them, ranging from excessive alcohol and drug use to self-mutilation to questionable sexual antics to berserker-esque battlefield tactics that eventually came to an abrupt end when an enemy took advantage of their tunnel vision. Faith, in an uncharacteristic moment of introspection, had hypothesized that after a certain point, the Slayer Spirit felt the urge to move on to a younger and healthier host and… encouraged… its current vessel to hasten the jump. They had no way to either prove or disprove that theory, but Willow was right. He didn't want to risk it. "Fine. But since I know you can cast certain spells on me like this with no problem? You're going to be scooping out a few more brains for me in the next few days."

"Okay?"

"And when she gets back from her current mission…"

"Oh no."

"…you're the one who gets to explain all this to my girlfriend."

"Eep."


	2. Chapter 2

Joe's Note: Since some people were curious about it, I decided to roll back time a bit and show some of what happened in between Xander getting transformed and his debut as a public superhero. Or should I say 'her' debut as a superhero'ine'. Ah, the joys of writing transgender fiction. The English language isn't really equipped to handle this sort of situation…

* * *

><p>"Well aren't you just… delicious."<p>

Looking up from where he was picking at his nails with the knife Faith had given him, Xander sucked in a nervous breath at the sight of his girlfriend standing in the doorway. While he hadn't known the exact day of her return - the details of her missions were 'need to know' and Giles and Faith were of the opinion that he didn't need to know - he'd known it would come eventually. And yet despite all his preparations, now that it was here? He had no idea what to do. As the blonde continued to stare at him, an odd little smile on her face, he slid down to the end of the bed and rose to his feet, slowly closing the distance between them. "Hey. So, uh, did Willow explain how all this happened? And how it's completely her fault and not at all mine?"

Amora Incantare shrugged before raising one hand to Xander's face, gently tracing her fingers over his cheek. "She might have said something along those lines. To be honest, I tuned her out after 'turned Xander into a hotter version of Merida'. I've found the Scots to be a delightful people from the day I first began whispering in Constantín mac Áeda's ear, guiding him against those savages that worshipped the Æsir and Vanir…" Leaning in, she bit Xander's jaw roughly enough to make him hiss in pain, but he knew that these days he wouldn't even need her help to walk out of their room in the morning with flawless skin. "Now I have a gorgeous little Scottish girlfriend that I can play with all I want. And without cheating on the person I love."

Before Xander could respond to that, his breath left him in a loud huff as Amora planted her hands on his shoulders and shoved him backward hard. Like several other times she'd pulled the same stunt, his feet actually left the ground as he went flying back to land on the bed with a grunt. While it was becoming increasingly clear that this homecoming would be no different than any other, he felt compelled to ensure they were on the same page. "We're still good, then? I mean, I knew you were… which means it shouldn't be a problem that I-"

"Let's just say that someone will be getting a very lovely Hanukkah present this year. Or Yule. I suppose it depends on whether or not she's still claiming she's Jewish when the time rolls around." Amora slowly slid her hands up Xander's side and then across his chest, eventually coming to a stop with her fingers curled around the neckline of his black t-shirt. Pulling harshly, she tore it clean in two down the front before waving her hand twice and using magic to dispose of the remains. Then she paused, hooking a finger in the bridge of Xander's rather utilitarian white bra and tugging gently. "Although I'll be having words with whoever took you shopping. I prefer my presents to have quality wrapping jobs."

Xander chuckled, craning his neck so he could see what she was up to. "Actually, that was my decision. I figured you'd want to take me out shopping when you got back and so I only let them buy me the bare minimum. Which I'm sure violates some sort of girl rule - turning down free clothes, I mean - but even with Orla's memories, I'm still not a very good girl."

Dissolving the bra with a yellowish-green pulse of eldritch energy, Amora grinned at him wolfishly. "Does that mean you're a very naughty girl?"

"Not exactly where I was going with that, but… giggity."

* * *

><p>"I had snoo-snoo."<p>

"Hush, darling."

"Seriously, we broke the bed in four places." There was a low, long groan as the headboard finally called it quits and collapsed, the remains thankfully tipping over to the side rather than onto where Xander and Amora were lying. His mind raced as he opened his mouth to crack the obligatory joke he thought the situation called for, only to let out a grunt as the mattress dropped the last few inches and hit the floor with a thump. "Err, make that six."

Chuckling, Amora ran her fingers through Xander's hair as she held his head to her chest and holy hell, having nails scraping against his head wasn't supposed to feel that good, was it? Because if that was a standard girl thing, he had to apologize to… Faith was his only living ex, wasn't she? Damn. That was kinda depressing. Not because he had something against Faith, but because he'd dated a bunch of other women an- "So sue me for deciding not to hold back now that I know you can take it. Besides, I suspect that we won't be needing this room - or its bed - too terribly much longer."

Xander nodded as best he could, not wanting to risk dislodging the hand doing such amazing things to his scalp. "I've been worried for a while now about Willow's backslide when it comes to magical morality, but I had responsibilities. Now? I've trained people who can be replacement, and I'll even be leaving them with some well-trained minions. So yeah, I think it might be time to move on with my life. Before she decides that she 'has' to do something to me that's even weirder than this."

"I don't know. I don't think it's weird at all." Amora gave a faint tug on Xander's hair, making him hiss in a mixture of pain and pleasure, and then rolled them over so she was on top of him. "As a matter of fact, I kind of like it."

Leaning up, Xander pressed a soft kiss to the blonde's lips. "Gee, I never would have guessed."

After staring down at him for a moment, Amora frowned and sat up a bit straighter atop his hips. "Am I supposed to be disgusted by you now, then? Leave you? Is that how you imagined this situation unfolding? Or… perhaps hoped it would?"

Xander forced himself up onto his elbows, blinking owlishly up at Amora. "What? No! I just thought-"

"Darling, we may have the same genders as humans, but I'm not even the same species as you. Why would I care about your gender? Either way, it's still xenophilia." Amora raised one fine blond brow at that, waiting for Xander to shrug in response before continuing. "Besides, one of my best friends before the fall of Asgard was a shapeshifter. I know a thing or two about caring more for the insides than the outsides." Reaching down, she let her fingers play over the soft orangish-red fuzz on the sides of Xander's head; the undercut that Kennedy had talked him into getting seemed to endlessly fascinate the Vanaþegnar. "Although speaking of the outsides… I'd like to think that you hold me in higher esteem than Willow. I'm surprised you didn't ask me if I could fix you."

Leaning into her touch, Xander rubbed the side of his head against her hand. "When? I think I got out a whopping three sentences before my mouth was, uh, otherwise occupied." Amora blew a noisy raspberry at that, making him chuckle. Because he definitely wasn't girly enough to be giggling. Nuh uh. No way. He did find it funny, though, that certain little mannerisms of him had rubbed off on the Vanaþegnar. "Besides, some guys do listen to their girlfriends when they talk. I remember what you told me about the how you measure up to some of the Æsir and Vanir, and how they compare to the Olympians. Willow got Hecate involved in this mess and I'm not going to ask you to go against the Olympians' magical specialist because we both know how it'd end." He shrugged. "Granted I might have a different opinion on things if Willow hadn't mindfucked me into being okay with the situation but… eh. Them's the breaks."

Amora scowled at that, her fingers scratching harshly against Xander's scalp as she curled her fingers into a fist before relaxing them. "Willow neglected to mention that aspect of the changes. I believe I'll be having words with her in the near future." Personally, given some of the things she'd told him about her past, Xander felt that was a bit of a 'pot, kettle, black' situation… but it was nice to know someone was looking out for him, so he decided to keep his mouth shut. "Hmm. Are you going to pick a new name to go with your new form? Not that I particularly mind calling this version of you Xander, but I imagine your friends find it unnerving to use your male self's name for this form."

Nodding, Xander put one hand on Amora's hip and pushed gently, coaxing her off onto the bed beside him. "Yeah, Willow winces every time someone calls me Xander. I guess it's hard to forget about your colossal fuck up and move on when people are constantly rubbing it in your face." Leaning to his right, he grabbed a stack of folders off the top of his nightstand. Placing them on the bed beside him, he fanned them out so he could check the names printed on the tabs before selecting one and passing it to Amora. "One of the seers slipped that under my door the day after I woke up like this. I think it's a hint as to where I'm supposed to go from here. Now that I'm a Slayer, I can do pretty much everything she can do and so it wouldn't be hard for me to become a superheroine. Especially once I emotionally blackmail Willow into refreshing my old Halloween soldier memories and transferring a bit of advanced training from the minds of the men on our wetworks teams. And what this has to do with my name is… Alexandra Natashova Bochkareva. Lexi for short. What do you think?"

Amora's brow inched back upward as she leafed through the contents of the folder, looking back and forth between it and Xander. "I suppose I can see it. You turning yourself into a miniature version of Natasha, that is. But isn't taking on a name from her culture just because you want to pattern yourself after her superhero identity a bit of… oh, what was that term Chloe used when she lectured me on how it was wrong for the Asgardians to assume the identities of a pantheon worshipped by Midgard's mortals? Cultural misappropriation?"

"Pfft. Like I care what Captain Social Justice Brigade thinks of me. But I guess you're right; having a Russian name would be kind of weird, especially since I have a Scottish accent at the moment. Hmm." Xander drummed his fingers against the mattress as he thought, inevitably bringing them into contact with the other folders. "It's probably still misappropriation because I'm an American mutt, but maybe Orla's parents could help me pick out a nice Scottish name for myself?"

"Or meet in the middle and combine Alexis with a more traditionally Scottish surname. Establish your Highland bona fides and such." Amora closed the folder that contained all the Council's information on Natasha Romanova and dropped it on the mattress before scooping up the other three files. "And these?"

Xander shrugged. While he had his suspicions based on the parentage of two of them and the skill set of the third, they were just that: suspicions. "Teen Avengers Assemble? Maybe? I mean, they're all roughly the same age as my new body, and two of them are the daughters of existing heroes while the third looks like she can kick some serious ass. Although speaking of the Avengers… you've never hidden your past from me. I know your history with them and with the superhero community as a whole. If I did go through with something like this, would it be a 'my' future or an 'our' future?"

Rather than respond directly, Amora scrunched up her brow in concentration as she mumbled some distinctly non-English words under her breath. Before Xander's eyes, the years began to melt away until the blonde looked like his new body's peer rather than a cradle-robbing cougar. "Of course I'd come with you, darling. Someone's got to keep you out of trouble, and I don't know those girls well enough to trust them with the job." Straightening up a bit, Amora inspected her new form before perking up and offering Xander a grin. "And if I took on a teenage form to match the rest of you, I'd have an excuse to join you in buying new clothes."

"Amora, since when have you ever needed an excuse to buy new clothes?"

"Never, darling, bu-"

"Xander, have you seen… eep!" Despite having walked in on similarly awkward situations numerous times in the past, Willow evidently still hadn't learned to knock before she entered. The redhead stood in the doorway, jaw working soundless as she stared at the naked pair of girls and their destroyed bed. "Ohmigoddess! I'm so sorry, I didn't thi-"

His girlfriend would probably smack him for it later… but Xander knew exactly how he had to respond to the situation at hand, lest he get his geek card taken away. "Close the door! You're letting all the stank out!"


	3. Chapter 3

Joe's Note: This was the other half of the original _Redback_ posting from Fic-a-Day. Like Chapter 1, this has been expanded a bit as part of splitting the story and inserting the intermediate chapter. Mostly to accommodate a newly introduced character, but there are other changes scattered here and there to accommodate the changes that will be introduced in the midquel chapter, along with the events of the sequel chapters that follow.

* * *

><p>"Thank you for your cooperation, officer. We'll be right out."<p>

Well this just sucked. And not just because she was being forced to wear a dress that - while being her favorite shade of purple - did absolutely nothing for her figure. That was an occupational hazard when you were part of a bridal party: nobody was allowed to look better than the bride, especially not the maid of honor. Kate Bishop scowled as she watched the armed gunmen who had taken her sister's wedding hostage gather their varied loot. "Seriously? The cops are letting them walk away?"

Inching a bit to her left so she was better hidden behind Kate, her sister Susan groaned. "Yes, Kate. That way we get to walk away too."

"That's ridiculous." Kate's scowl grew as she looked over at the nearest of the gunmen. Despite being well dressed - and armed - it was obvious that he was in decent but not exceptional shape. Especially when she compared him and his friends to her current self-defense instructors… "We can take these guys. I mean, there's something like two hundred of us and only five of them."

Behind her, Susan sucked in a breath as the gunman pulled his weapon from its underarm holster and pointed it at Kate's head. "Yes, sweetie, but all five of us have guns."

Before Kate could offer a rebuttal, a thunderous crack echoed through St. Patrick's Cathedral and the skull of the gunman with chin-length blond hair simply… disappeared. "Actually, there are only four of you with guns. And mine's bigger." The barrel of a massive rifle emerged from the shadows that cloaked the Lady Chapel behind the high altar, followed by a teenage redhead in a glossy black and red catsuit. She had bright blue eyes ringed heavily with mascara, wavy red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with the sides shaved down to a soft fuzz, and if she was old enough to legally work in the state of New York, Kate would eat her heels. After sending a pointed look down at her gun, the redhead offered a smirk and some advice in her soft, Scottish brogue. "Your move. But before you think about going for human shields, I want to point out that I can shoot you through them and saving only a hundred and ninety-six people is still a ninety-eight percent success rate. And that's pretty damn good in my book."

The gunmen trained their weapons on the slowly advancing newcomer even as they exchanged uncertain looks. Finally, the one who had threatened Kate cocked his gun and let out a bark of laughter. "You're bluffing."

"Are you sure about that?" The redhead ascended the two steps to the high altar before pausing, raising her gun so the butt was pressed against her right shoulder. Pulling the trigger, she transformed another gunman's chest from an outie to an innie before smoothly pivoting and destroying the shoulder of a third gunman. What was left of his arm dropped to the floor with his gun still gripped tightly in his hand, and the girl raised an eyebrow as she peered over the top of the scope. "Do you want to take that chance?"

Kate glanced to her left, smirking as one of the remaining gunmen bent down and placed his pistol on the floor before kicking it away as he raised his hands high. That just left the one closest to Kate… who barely managed to make it half a step closer to her before being caught in the side by a bolt of brilliant blue electricity. "Ah!"

Swinging the gun up to rest casually on her shoulder, the girl swaggered over to watch as the man hit the floor, twitching and jerking wildly. "Black catsuit with a red hourglass on the front. Red hair. Big gun. Willingness to use it. Did you seriously think I'd put this much work into a Black Widow imitation and not go the whole nine yards?" Pivoting, she sent the gunman who'd surrendered crashing to the floor with another blast of electricity before turning back to Kate. She offered the taller brunette a smile… that Kate promptly wiped off her savior's face with a blistering slap. "Ow! What the… holy… what is wrong with you? I just saved you and your family!"

"After giving them the idea of taking human shields! God! If you'd been any slower with your zapper, he would have grabbed me and I might have ended up the one missing in your 'one ninety-nine out of two hundred isn't bad' math." Kate shrugged off Susan's hands as she stalked forward, poking the girl in the chest. "So excuse me if I think that being the one missing would really, really suck. That being said?" Bringing both hands up, Kate grabbed the girl's head and pulled her in for a kiss. After silently counting to three - it was a reward, not the opening salvo of a heated make out session - Kate pulled back. "Thanks."

The redhead grinned goofily, reaching up to touch her lips, but a bright flash of yellowish-green light interrupted her before she could reply. Kate's eyes widened as a glowing ring of light appeared on the floor two steps behind the redhead and a bit to her right. It slowly rose into the air, revealing what appeared to be a person as it ascended toward he ceiling. First came knee-high black leather boots with white spats, followed by thigh-high green silk stockings with repeating gold embroidered circles up their faces, and then a thin strip of bare thigh. Going purely by the legs, Kate was willing to guess the new arrival was a woman, which was only reinforced as the ring continued upward to reveal a gold leather corset cinched around an emerald keyhole minidress with long, lighter green sleeves that left the woman's shoulders bare. Finally came a gorgeous, upturned face topped with golden blonde hair that was held back away from her eyes by a light green headband decorated by odd, fin-like protrusions. A foot after it cleared the woman's head, the yellowish-green ring fizzled out of existence and the new arrival sighed before relaxing and opening her eyes. "I do so hope you brought enough to share with the entire class, Katherine."

"Enough of what?" Just when Kate thought she couldn't get any more surprised by the situation, the blonde stepped forward and wrapped her arm around the redhead's waist, leaning in to rest her head on the taller girl's shoulder. Winking, she blew a kiss at Kate… who proceeded to blush as red as her savior's hair. "Oh! The two of you are-"

"Mmm. Although if you were to kiss me as well, then perhaps I could forgive her for cheating on me and-" The blonde scowled at the sound of breaking glass, and Kate whirled around to watch as the shattered remains of the massive rose window at the rear of the cathedral rained downward. "Hold that thought, would you?"

The destroyed window allowed the strangest quartet Kate had ever seen to enter the cathedral, floating forward through the air until they came in for a landing between the two rows of pews in the cathedral's transept. They stood there staring up at the wedding party - or, more likely, its newest additions - in mute disbelief. Stepping up beside Kate on her right, the redhead leaned in toward her. "Wanna be a participant instead of a spectator?" Kate let out a vaguely agreeable noise and the girl chuckled. "Your right hand, my left thigh. Grab and pull. Three… two… one… now."

As the girl surged forward, Kate followed the instructions she'd been given and wrapped her hand around… the grip of a pistol? Then again, what else would a faux-Widow carry in terms of extra weapons? It slipped smoothly from the redhead's thigh holster, and Kate raised it in a two-handed grip as she gave chase. Proper threat evaluation was a skill that had been drilled into her by every instructor she'd worked with, and she quickly drew a bead on the boy in a modified version of Bucky's costume. Even with a shield, he seemed to be closer to her league than the big green boy, the armored boy, or the godling. "Hands where we can see them."

"What?" The boys exchanged wide-eyed looks before turning back to her. Taking a step forward, the green boy held his hands up in surrender. "You do know we're here to save you, right?"

Shrugging her shoulder, the redhead let her rifle swing through the air before dropping into a ready position, peering through the scope. "Yeah, well, next time you might want to show up while people still need saving. And without destroying a priceless masterpiece."

Behind Hulk-Boy, Iron Teen crossed his arms over his chest and huffed loudly. "I told you not to go through that window, Hulkling. This is why you don't listen to Patriot."

"Hey hey hey. I didn't tell him to bust out the window." Patriot - which was a decent enough name for the not-Bucky in Kate's opinion, and definitely better than 'Hulkling' for the green boy - took a step to his left, putting some distance between him and Hulkling. "I suggested it. He didn't have to listen to my suggestion."

Breaking away from the others, the teenage Thor began wandering down the aisle toward the back of the cathedral. "I wonder if I can use my powers to put everything back together? I mean, I've done stranger…" His musings were cut short as the blonde slipped past Kate, closing the distance between them until she invaded his personal space. Grabbing Thor Boy by the chin, she leaned in and peered into his eyes. "Uh, hi?"

The blonde reached up, gently caressing Thor Boy's face. "Given your powers, I'm surprised that you didn't choose to pattern yourself after me."

"Well, Amora… I'm guessing you're the real Amora and not someone like us based on what you said?" Thor Boy waited for the now-named Amora to nod before continuing. "There are two problems with that idea. One: you're a villain. Were a villain. Not quite sure which. Either way, you don't really fit with the motif we're going for. And two: you're a girl. I'm not."

"I am also an Asgardian, whereas you are not." Amora gave Thor Boy a pat on the cheek before turning and walking away. "One of those is within your powers to correct, should you so choose. At that point, though, I would recommend patterning yourself after your mother if you're worried about adhering to an Avengers motif…"

Thor Boy took a step forward, his mouth opening… and then froze. He stared after Amora in disbelief, jaw working soundlessly for a few seconds, and then finally managed to string together something coherent. "Wait what? Are you sure I am who you think I am? Because my mother is a psychologist, not an Avenger."

Retaking her spot beside the still nameless redhead, Amora let out a throaty laugh. "The question you should really be asking yourself, Midgardian, isn't if you are who I think you are. It's if you are who you think you are."

As Thor Boy's expression shifted from confused to contemplative, Iron Teen took a step forward and offered Kate's companion his hand. "Listen, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Iron Lad, and my friends are Asgardian, Hulkling, and Patriot. We're… well, the papers are calling us the Young Avengers. Not sure if we're going to change that, or who we'd have to talk to if we wanted to."

"Redback. Amora's already introduced herself. And…" Lowering her rifle, Redback reached out to take Iron Lad's hand, only to freeze with her hand halfway to his. "Katherine. Three feet to the bride's right, six inches higher than her shoulder. Fire." Kate didn't even hesitate, spinning around and firing a single round that passed between her sister and one of the bridesmaids before burying itself in the shoulder of the gunman who'd threatened her. He cried out before collapsing back to the floor and Redback let out a low whistle. "…definitely team material, don't you think, Amora?"


	4. Chapter 4

Joe's Note: And now we're moving forward. This was where I always intended to go with the story, albeit with the group acquiring a witch/magic user instead of Xander bringing Amora with him to America to start the team. We're actually going to end up with a team of six by the time this is all said and done, instead of the quintet implied in Chapter 2. I think you can guess who at least two of them are based on the folders… and there are only so many canon children of canon Avengers, which means the third folder isn't impossible to figure out ahead of time either. The sixth, I've given no clues yet that I'm aware of, nor shall I before the character decides to force themself on the team…

* * *

><p>"Do you have any idea how much money I've raised for your department, Captain?"<p>

"Yes, Mister Bishop, but the fact remains that they constitute a clear and present danger-"

"The only clear and present danger here is to your career if you finish that sentence."

"Mister Bishop. We are fully willing to write off what your daughter did as self-defense. But one of these girls is responsible for the murder of three men, while the other is on the 'call the Avengers on sight' list. At the very least, they need to come downtown for-"

"And where was this kind of initiative when my family and I were being held hostage?"

Alexis NicConstantín bit her lip to avoid laughing as the flustered police captain did his best to deal with the increasingly irate Derek Bishop. While the policeman was right in that she had killed men tonight… well, they'd kinda been asking for it with the whole armed robbery thing. Letting them go would have just allowed them to prey upon others, while trying to apprehend them outside the cathedral could have resulted in the deaths of police officers. She and Amora had done the NYPD a hell of a favor tonight in her books, and it was nice to see that at least one person in the hospital's lobby recognized that.

Honestly, if not for Katherine - Kate, Alexis amended, the brunette had asked them to call her Kate - they'd have bugged out a long time ago. The Slayer would have either asked Amora to cast one of her handy dandy teleportation ring spells or, well, gotten up and walked right out of the hospital. It wasn't as if the cops could actually stop them if they decided to leave. After seeing the mess she'd made in the cathedral, Alexis doubted they'd even try beyond a few strong words. But Kate… Kate had been magnificent this evening. Kate was one of the three girls they'd come to New York to find. And so until they had a chance to talk to Kate about joining them, they were going nowhere fast.

Suddenly, Amora perked up and gave Alexis a quick kiss on the lips before rising to her feet. Without offering a word of explanation, she turned on her heel and snapped her fingers, causing one of the teleportation rings that the redhead had just been thinking about to sweep over the Asgardian. She disappeared into thin air, leaving Alexis all by her lonesome… just as the emergency room's doors slid open to admit an entire SWAT team's worth of reinforcements for Captain What's His Name. "Okay, now this is just getting ridiculous." Slapping a fresh clip into her Barrett M82A2, she hopped to her feet but kept her massive anti-materiel rifle pointed downward as she backed a few paces further away from the police. "See, I can understand you wanting to have a few words with me… but isn't bringing an entire SWAT team a bit of overkill?"

"After what you did at St. Patrick's, Miss?" One of the SWAT officers brought a rather wicked-looking black shotgun to bear on Alexis as his teammates raised an assortment of shotguns and rifles. "I think we brought just enough kill."

* * *

><p>Cassandra Lang scowled as she stared at the chunky black SWAT truck parked out in front of Lenox Hill Hospital, wondering how her brilliant plan had managed to go to shit. It had been too simple to fail, or so she'd thought. Step one: sneak out of her house. That had been easy enough, given how little her parents actually cared about her when they weren't in a courtroom. Step two: make her way to the hospital where the NYPD had brought everyone from the St. Patrick's incident. Also easy, given that she knew the city's mass transit system like the back of her hand. Step three: get inside and find a way to talk to the Black Widow girl, Amora Junior, or both. Or maybe one of the other Young Avengers if they showed up to pick up their teammates. Whichever. She'd been working on that, which would have segued neatly into step four: convince the team to let her join up.<p>

Except now she couldn't because her step-father's coworkers had shown up to interrogate and probably arrest the girls. Cassie knew from her days in the Avenger's Mansion that there were some superhuman prisons scattered around the country, where individuals that traditional penitentiaries couldn't handle were sent. Not only were they all out of her reach but, well, she couldn't exactly team up with jailbirds. And as things stood, they were her only lead on the Young Avengers.

God damn it.

Raising her hand, Cassie offered the police a one-fingered salute before turning away from the hospital… and slamming face-first into someone's breasts. Green breasts. But not green breasts in the Jen way; these were breasts covered in green fabric. Taking a step back, she looked up and gasped. "You!" Because while it was younger than it was supposed to be, Cassie recognized that face. The girl from the cathedral wasn't some kind of wannabe Amora, she was the real damn thing!

"Me." Arm flashing out faster than Cassie's eyes could track, Amora tangled her hand in the young blonde's hair and pulled her closer as her green eyes locked with Cassie's blue orbs, the Asgardian's free arm winding around Cassie's waist. "I thought I felt the witch's son, but you've been tainted by her as well. Not nearly as deeply, but enough to explain certain… discrepancies." What? "I'm hardly complaining, though. You're far more useful to us this way, to say nothing of your blossoming beauty."

Cassie blinked a few times before blushing on account of holy crap, a goddess had just called her pretty. Even if Amora was a Neutral Evil goddess and semi-regular Avengers villain, compliments were few and far between for her and so Cassie was going to take what she could get. "Um, thanks?" Looking down as best she could with Amora holding her in place, she chuckled nervously. "Any chance you can let me go? This is a bit awkward. And by a bit, I mean a lot. Like, Hulk-sized awkward."

Laughing softly, Amora instead let her hand drift down out of Cassie's hair, ghosting over the smaller blonde's neck and then down her back before… eep! Holy crap, there was a goddess grabbing her ass! "Must I? You really are quite pretty… like a flower that's been growing unnoticed behind a wall, waiting for someone to peek over and discover it."

Another compliment. If this kept up, Cassie was liable to get a complex. Still… "Don't you have a girlfriend? And didn't you try to kill my father a few times?"

"Actually, unless your mother slept with another height-multiplier altogether, I never fought against your father." Amora offered a lopsided smirk as she looked Cassie up and down slowly. "Hmm. They're both blue-eyed blonds, and I'm not familiar enough with either to recognize their features in you. Perhaps that's a question best left to Maury?"

Was she seriously suggesting… eww! And not just on normal parental sex thought grounds, either. Janet Pym was ridiculously pretty. Given the choice between her and Cassie's mom, who in their right mind would sleep with… well, Hank wasn't always in his right mind. But still! Shaking her head to try and dislodge those thoughts, Cassie shuddered. "So, um, why are you here? What do you want from me? What's your favorite kind of ice cream? Insert any other question that would derail our current conversation here?"

Amora laughed again in reply before leaning down so her lips brushed against Cassie's earlobe. "You saw what my girlfriend and I did tonight." While it wasn't exactly a question, Cassie nodded in response. "What would you think of taking up your late father's mantle?"

Jackpot.

* * *

><p>"Listen, Miss Redback-"<p>

"Alexis. Alexis NicConstantín. I'm sixteen, birthday is April 1st, and I'm from Dùn Dè in Alba. And if you're writing any of that down to run through the computers, you're wasting your time because I'm just reciting the information on my fake ID."

"…lovely. Listen, Miss NicConstantín. You may have had noble intentions for getting involved at St. Patrick's but at the end of the day, three men are dead at your hand. You're going to need to take responsibility for your actions and-"

"Why?" Kate's eyes bounced back and forth between the police and Redback-slash-Alexis, amazed at how calmly the redhead was handling things. After a bit of performance anxiety to start - undoubtedly due to the sheer number of guns being pointed her way - the teen had settled down and was doing an admirable job of fending off the police's questions. "Question for you, Captain. A train is running out of control down the tracks. A mile up ahead, a villain has tied five people to the tracks. You're standing at the points lever. If you realign the switch, the train will go onto a siding… where a single person is tied to the tracks. Do you flip the switch or do nothing?"

"I don't see what-"

"On the contrary, my friend. It has everything to do with tonight." Alexis gestured at the large television hanging on the wall, which was displaying CNN's coverage of the incident at the cathedral. Huh. That was… almost impossibly convenient, Kate mused. Was the redhead a technopath on top of everything else, or did she just have really good timing? "One track had five people on it. The other had two hundred civilians, dozens of your fellow police officers, and all the future victims of these men. So I threw the lever."

"And you think you have the right to make a choice like that? To decide who lives and who dies?"

That question earned the police captain a sigh and a shrug from Alexis. "You know, I once asked someone that same question. Or something close enough. She never gave me an answer. Personally? I don't know." The redhead tapped her fingers against her hip for a moment before gesturing to the floor. "Do you want to get philosophical? I mean, there are beings out there who function as death gods and goddesses for our world. While I shot the men, they didn't have to claim my prey. They could have gone 'hey, flattered by your offering, thanks but no thanks' and kept those three men from crossing over. So if you look at it from that perspective, while I did in fact shoot those men, it was someone other than me who ultimately decided their fate tonight. Probably Hades, since Hela's gone at the moment…" Her soft alto voice trailing off, Alexis looked around wildly for a few seconds before smiling widely. "At any rate, I've been stalling for time but my ride's here now. So I'm gonna go. We'll have to do this again sometime, though. Kate? My pistol?"

Eyes jumping from Alexis to the protesting police to her lap, Kate's eyes widened. Oh. Right. For some bizarre reason, neither the cops nor the hospital staff had so much as tried to get her to relinquish the black pistol she'd been openly carrying since she'd pulled it from Alexis's thigh holster. In retrospect, though, she probably should have expected the redhead to want her gun back at some point. Kate had hopped online at one point to distract herself from all the arguing; a new Glock 26 went for roughly five hundred dollars and, well, while that was a pair of shoes to a woman in her family, she didn't really know where Alexis sat financially. Picking the gun up by the barrel, she offered it to the redhead… who grabbed Kate's wrist rather than the gun's grip. The next thing the brunette knew, she was standing with Alexis's arm around her waist, the redhead pressed against her back and a gun poking against the side of her head. "So. Human shields. Something you're familiar with then?"

"Nope. Not that hard to figure out, though." Alexis gave a little tug on Kate's waist, gently guiding the brunette backward. While the hospital undoubtedly had other exits, it was an odd move given that the closest path to freedom was a short walk straight forward. Sure, the cops were between the redhead and- "Mister Bishop, your daughter's purse? And please don't cancel the plastic when you get home; I'm pretty sure I'd go broke in a week trying to keep her fed and clothed in the manner in which she's accustomed."

After looking back and forth between the police and the two teenage girls, Kate's father nodded before retrieving his daughter's purse from where it rested atop the uncomfortable plastic hospital seat beside the one she'd been occupying. Approaching them slowly, he waited for Kate to bow her head and then looped the strap around her neck. His eyes flicked back and forth between Kate and Alexis, and then he lowered his voice. "The only reason I'm not doing something incredibly stupid right now is because I know my daughter could kick your ass if she wanted to." Kate blinked; she hadn't realized her father thought so highly of the distinctly 'unfeminine' skills she'd been accumulating as of late. The validation was nice in a way. Poorly timed, but nice. "Who am I to stand in the way of… whatever she's planning for you?"

The quiet laugh that shook Alexis's body made Kate uncomfortably aware of how close she was to the girl she'd kissed earlier that night. "Hopefully nothing that'll get me in trouble with my girlfriend. Speaking of which, I'd back away if I were you. The last thing you need is for your foot to get teleported out when we leave while the rest of you stays here." Nodding rapidly, her father backed away, leaving Kate and Alexis alone in the center of the hospital lobby. "Gentlemen, m'lady. You will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Alexis! Nic! Constantín!"

Silence ensued.

Kate looked around.

One of the police officers coughed.

And then behind her, Alexis groaned. "Really, Amora? You couldn't just let me have my dramatic exit?"

A tinkling laugh echoed through the room, followed by a brilliant flash of yellowish-green light and a rough tugging sensation that yanked Kate down through the floor.


	5. Chapter 5

Joe's Note: For those of you who aren't deeply knowledgeable of the Marvel universe, the modern Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd didn't exist before the 'House of M' event… and Cassie was a few years younger before Wanda donkey punched reality. So when Amora talks about 'the witch' and her 'taint', that's what she's sensing. Billy and Cassie are but two of at least three characters who this will come up regarding…

* * *

><p>"Wait a minute. I… you kidnapped me to my own room?!"<p>

Chuckling, Alexis fell backward onto the California King size bed behind her, marveling at the fact that even when sprawled out in her best starfish imitation, she couldn't touch more than a single side of Kate's bed at once. While she and Amora enjoyed their creature comforts, even they didn't have something quite this outrageous in their apartment. Holstering the pistol she'd used to hold Kate hostage, she then tugged her rifle's strap up and over her head before stretching, reaching up until she could deposit the gun on the multitude of pillows Kate had scattered around the head of the bed. That done, the redhead propped herself up on her elbows. "Did we actually kidnap you? Technically speaking, I mean. Amora?"

As Kate's jaw dropped and she looked back and forth in disbelief, the blonde's fingers dipped into her cleavage and she pulled out an iPhone in a green hard case emblazoned in gold with arcane symbols. Pushing and holding the Home button, Amora waited for it to chirp twice before speaking. "Define kidnap."

"The definition of 'kidnap' is…" Siri paused for a moment before continuing. "…take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom."

Putting her phone back on standby, Amora returned it to her cleavage before gesturing to the room around her. "This is neither an undisclosed location, nor are we planning to ask for a ransom." She made her way over to the bed and seated herself next to the redhead's right shoulder, reaching out to run her fingers through Alexis's hair. "I do ask that you let Cassandra finish using your ensuite, though."

Kate's mouth abruptly closed as she shot a scowl at over at the closed bathroom door. Alexis regularly found herself wondering exactly how enhanced her senses were; the answer was evidently enough so that she'd heard the shower running while the brunette hadn't. "Wait, what? Who's Cassandra? Are you guys on a kidnapping spree or something? And why is she in my shower?"

"How many people do you have to kidnap before it's a spree? And remember, you technically don't count, what with not actually being kidnapped and all." Alexis laughed at the look of consternation on Kate's face before nodding toward the bathroom door. "Cassie's here for the same reason as you."

Making her way over to her dressing table, Kate bent forward at the waist and examined her reflection for a few seconds before sighing. Reaching up, she began pulling out the pins that kept her hair in the complicated updo she'd worn to the wedding, viciously driving each one into the mirror's wooden frame and making it shudder. "Really? Because I think I'd remember having a roommate."

God, was this how it'd felt to be Giles back when they were still in high school? If so, Alexis owed the man a present. Like, a car or a private jet or a trophy wife or something. Because real teenagers were annoying as hell these days. "Because we need to talk to her. And you." Kate peered back over her shoulder and opened her mouth, only to be cut off as Alexis answered the obviously forthcoming question. "About joining our team. Which I think we're going to have to call the Young Defenders, since someone beat us to the punch with Teen Avengers. Well, Young Avengers. Close enough."

Slowly straightening up, Kate turned to face them. "Ladies, you had my curiosity. But now you have my attention." Holding up a finger, she forestalled any elaboration on Alexis's part. "But before I let you distract me with this whole team thing of yours, though, as interesting as it may sound… Cassie. My shower. Why?"

"She reeked quite horribly of a combination of the subways and artificial vanilla body lotion. I'm not sure which of the two smells offended me more." Amora's free hand wandered into Alexis's field of vision as she gestured to the occupied bathroom. "You had an… adequate… selection of toiletries and so given that we were still waiting on you, I requested that she make herself more presentable before our discussion." The hand in Alexis's hair paused and then pulled away as Amora rose from the bed. "Now that I think about it, I've yet to deliver on my promise of clean clothes for her to wear when she's finished."

"I suppose this means you're going to stick with a theme and steal some of my clothes to go with you stealing my shampoo and stealing my shower? And stealing me and her?" Kate rolled her eyes when Amora simply shrugged before nodding, and then gestured to the nearby dresser. "Middle two drawers are fair game; it's all stuff left behind from when my friends have slept over. Touch one of my shirts - or my underwear - and it'll be on like Donkey Kong."

Amora tugged the upper of the aforementioned drawers open and began rifling through its contents. Eventually she emerged with a rather unremarkable t-shirt that she held up for Kate's inspection. After a shrug and a nod from the brunette, Amora shook it a few times, sending tendrils of yellowish-green eldritch energy racing through it. That was something Alexis was quite familiar with: as much as Amora loved to shop, she loved playing Barbie doll and creating her own outfits for people even more. Usually it was for Alexis, but tonight she had a new 'doll' to play with.

As Alexis watched curiously, the fabric shifted from mundane grey cotton to blood red leather, acquiring a Y-shaped black design on the front even as the neckhole wriggled and widened into a portrait neckline. Almost as an afterthought, Amora added a silver zipper running down the front, presumably so she wouldn't need to magick it on and off of its eventual owner. "What do you think, Kate? Is it her?"

"How would I know, I've never even…" Kate trailed off as she looked back and forth between the modified shirt and the closed bathroom door, but then comprehension finally dawned and she snatched the top out of Amora's hands. After staring down at it for a few more seconds, she finally bubbled over. "Cassandra. Cassie. Cassandra 'Cassie' Lang, as in Scott Lang's daughter, as in you kidnapped an Avenger's daughter and brought her to my house?!"

"Well, you went two for four with that statement. Fifty percent accuracy isn't terrible, as long as we're not talking about a weapon." Amora returned to rummaging in Kate's dresser, eventually finding a pair of pajama pants that she magicked to be the same red leather as the top she'd created before adding black stripes running down the outsides of the legs. "The girl in question is in fact Scott Lang's daughter, but his recent death means that he is no longer an Avenger and therefore she is no longer an Avenger's daughter. Also, she came with me willingly, which means that she is no more kidnapped than you." Frowning, she peered down at the open drawers before looking back up at Kate. "Do I look somewhere else for homeless footwear?"

Groaning, Kate made her way over to the bed and threw herself face down on the mattress next to Alexis. "I've been kidnapped by an Asgardian lawyer and her trigger-happy girlfriend. Fuck my life."

Alexis snorted and rolled onto her side, patting Kate on the back. Not so much to comfort the girl as to distract her - and partially obstruct her view - as Amora wandered across the room and into the brunette's walk in closet. Which she was somewhat jealous of, especially now that her wardrobe was starting to consume some serious space, but not as jealous as she would have been if Kate had a Walken closet. Peanuts, in a bag. Wow. "FYI: you're down to twenty-five percent accuracy with that one. She's not an Asgardian or a lawyer, and I only shoot people who deserve it. I am her girlfriend, though."

"I… she's not?" Kate pushed herself up onto her forearms, furrowing her brow as she peered back over her shoulder. "I always thought she was. And where'd she go?"

"Raiding your shoes for something for Cassie, I'm assuming. Or something that can be transformed into shoes for Cassie." Alexis reached out, grabbing at Kate's arm as the brunette tried to rise from her prone position. "Worst case scenario: she finds your most expensive pair of shoes and cannibalizes them for raw matter to shape into a gift for Cassie. Is the cost of replacing them more than you'd be willing to pay to become a superheroine?" The brunette shook her head as she relaxed, lowering herself back onto the bed. "And Asgardians are from Asgard. Amora's from Vanaheim, which makes her a Vanaþegnar."

Breezing back out of the closet, Amora held up a pair of knee high black boots adorned with a handful of red streaks to break up the monotony. "I'm also an amazing cook, because I have certain standards of living and while Skurge was great for lifting heavy objects and killing my enemies, he was absolutely worthless domestically. Also, as you can see, an amateur fashion designer. I'd like to go pro, but I'm not sure where to start."

The answer came not from Kate or even Alexis, but from behind Amora. "Putting a bit more distance between you and your 'show up and fight the Avengers with the Executioner' phase would probably help open some doors for you. Just a thought. Putting that out there. Oh, or maybe Janet. She's always looking for apprentices." Cassie emerged from the bathroom clad in a very plain white bra and panties, toying with a pair of scissors. "Do you think I should cut my hair, Amora? I mean, I'm going to be a bit of a brawler. Having something that people can grab and pull seems like a bad idea…"

Kate rolled over with a groan before sitting up. "Oh, for the love of… never cut your own hair. Ever. Unless you have a buzz cut or something and all you need to do is run the clippers around in circles until it's the same length again." Scooting over to the edge of the bed, she spread her legs and then patted the space between them. "Come here. I'm no Oribe, but I think I can handle this. And while I work, Amora can tell us why we're here."

"If it's a bad idea to cut your own hair, I'm not even going to ask why you keep these in your bathroom." Crossing the room, Cassie paused in front of Kate as her gaze bounced back and forth between the brunette and her own nearly nude form. "Should I get dressed first? Or you get undressed? That looks like a really nice dress."

Sighing, Kate took the scissors from Cassie and placed them on the bed next to her before grabbing the blonde by the hips, spinning her a hundred and eighty degrees before yanking her down to sit between her legs. "If we cut your hair while you're dressed, you get hair on your new clothes. I don't care if I get hair on this because I'm planning to burn it as soon as I take it off. Literally." Reaching around, Kate pulled the hair tie off Cassie's wrist and yanked the blonde's hair back into a ponytail. "So. Amora. We're all here now. Explanation time."

Amora snapped her fingers, summoning a handful of dog-eared folders whose contents Alexis had memorized over the past few months. "To make a long story exceedingly short? I met Alexis through an organization that deals with magic and demonic threats not worth of Doctor Strange's attention. When it was time for us to leave, one of their seers gave us information about a number of young women who would make good superheroines. You're one, Kate, which is why we showed up at the cathedral rather than leaving things to the Young Avengers. Cassie is another. We have information on at least one more potential teammate, whose folder now makes a lot more sense after seeing what Wanda did to Cassie. Before we recruit her, though, I think it'd be a good idea to help Cassie activate her powers. Which means breaking into the remains of the Avengers Mansion to see if we can find more Pym Particles and her father's helmet."

"We're going to what?!" Caught off guard by the Amora's words, Kate's hand drifted a bit too far forward as she brought the scissors in to snip through Cassie's ponytail. And by a bit, Alexis was guesstimating roughly two or three inches, leaving behind just over an inch of blond hair as the bulk of Cassie's mane plummeted to land on Kate's lap. Silence descended, broken by a low growl as Cassie glared back over her shoulder at Kate. "…I can fix this."


End file.
